The doubles match between the French pair of Sadio Doumbia and Fabien Reboul against the Argentine team of Maximo Gonzalez and Andres Molteni at the China Open seemed to be going well for the French team. Having split the first two sets, the fourth-seeded pair of Doumbia and Reboul had a strong 7-4 lead in the deciding ten-point tiebreak. Despite the advantage, the match ended in favor of the Argentine pair when Reboul was forced to retire with an injury.

With the match on the edge in the deciding tiebreak, there was an intense rally in which Reboul sent a high lob up, which was smashed straight back at him by the Argentine team. The French player had to go down on his knees to somehow deflect the ball to the other side of the net, but that is when he injured his knee. The point went to the French team when one of the Argentine team’s shots hit the net, but Reboul was already on the ground in pain.

Reboul was visibly in tears, holding on to his knee. His partner, Doumbia, was immediately by his side, checking up on Reboul’s injury. The opponents also came in to check on the Frenchman’s condition, which was poor, and he could not continue the match. Despite being on the verge of a loss, the team of Molteni and Gonzalez got the win.

For the French pair of Doumbia and Reboul, this was a great opportunity to make a deep run in Beijing, given that they were the fourth seeds and the defending champions, Harri Heliovaara and Henry Patten, were not in the field this year. Given that their quarterfinal opponents would have been Alexander Bublik and Juncheng Shang, the French team will rue the missed opportunity, as Bublik and Shang were not a set doubles team.

Earning points in Beijing was crucial for the French team’s qualification chances at the ATP Finals. Doumbia and Reboul are currently 10th in the race and about 700 points behind the eighth-placed team of Guido Andreozzi and Manuel Guinard, who were the top-seeded pair in Beijing. However, given Reboul’s injury, much will depend on how quickly the recovery process goes if the French pair have to make a late dash for the Finals in Turin.

Doumbia and Reboul have been among the most consistent performers over the years, with the French team seeking their first breakthrough at a big event.

Sadio Doumbia and Fabien Reboul Have Been One of the Top Doubles Teams in Recent Years

Partnering for the first time in 2016, the doubles team of Doumbia and Reboul gradually made their way into the top flight. The French duo made their names on the Challenger Tour, winning 17 titles at that level from 2018 to 2025, including a Challenger event in Quimper last year.

The two got their Tour-level breakthrough at the 2023 Cordoba Open, where they had a runner-up finish. However, the French team did not have to wait long for title success on the ATP Tour, as they won the Chengdu Open that year and later successfully defended their title in 2024.

Together, Doumbia and Reboul have reached thirteen Tour-level finals, winning seven titles. Their most high-profile final came at the Italian Open last year, where they lost the final to the veteran pair of Marcelo Arevalo and Mate Pavic. The pair has a 35-20 win-loss record for this year, winning titles in Bucharest and Bastad, along with quarterfinal runs at the Australian Open and at Wimbledon.

However, since their win at the Nordea Open in Bastad, the pair have not been in the best of form, with a 4-4 win-loss record on North American hard courts. They did not have a great start to the Asian swing, with an opening-round exit at the Chengdu Open, and now, with the forced retirement in Beijing, the French team needs a quick turnaround to get their season on track.